(AP) - FILE - In this Dec. 19, 2008 file photo, President George W. Bush speaks at the White House in Washington. Politicians of all stripes in this election year are clamoring for simplifying the tax code and closing loopholes. But that would mean Americans could lose some of their prized deductions. Tax reform does sound like a good idea to lots of people, but where to start? Eliminate the deduction for home mortgages? End the write-off for charitable contributions? How about expanding the Social Security payroll tax? Not likely. In fact, none of the major tax overhaul proposals now on the table seems likely to be enacted given the current political situation in Washington and the country. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

(AP) - FILE - In this Oct. 13, 1988 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate and Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis shakes hands with Vice President and Republican presidential candidate George Bush, left, prior to their second and final presidential debate on UCLA's campus in Los Angeles, Calif. During the debate Dukakis was asked whether he'd favor the death penalty if his wife, Kitty, were raped and murdered. His emotionally detached a classic case of being too cool under fire. 'I think you know that I've opposed the death penalty during all of my life,' he said. 'I don't see any evidence that it's a deterrent, and I think there are better and more effective ways to deal with violent crime.' Kitty Dukakis later wrote in her memoir, 'That chilling incident at the second debate was the nail in the coffin. ... Michael made a mistake; he answered a question he should have hurled right back into the face of his questioner.' (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon, File)

(AP) - FILE - In this Oct. 15, 1992, file photo President George H.W. Bush looks at his watch during the 1992 presidential campaign debate with other candidates, Independent Ross Perot, top, and Democrat Bill Clinton, not shown, at the University of Richmond, Va. The most telling moment in a three-way debate between Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot in 1992, wasn't conveyed in words. It was Bush's glance at his watch. The president already was battling perceptions that he was out of touch and out of ideas in a time of economic distress. When the TV cameras caught him stealing a glance at his watch, it reinforced the impression that Bush wasn't up for the job. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File)

(AP) - Photographs of former President George H.W. Bush and his son, former President George W. Bush and their wives are displayed during early voting at the Carson City Republican Caucus, Saturday, Feb. 4 2012, in Carson City, Nev. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

(AP) - FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 26, 1998 file photo, a portrait of President Saddam Hussein stands at the entrance of the Doura oil refinery on the outskirts of Baghdad. In the first State of the Union address after the 9/11 attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush bunched Iran, Iraq and North Korea together as the West's most dangerous foe, and called it an 'axis of evil.' Ten years later America is still at war, and the three points on the 'axis' are profoundly different. (AP Photo/Jockel Finck)

(AP) - FILE - In this Feb. 16, 2002 photo from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency distributed by Korea News Service, students participate in a mass gymnastics show at Pyongyang Gymnasium in North Korea, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of leader Kim Jong Il. In the first State of the Union address after the 9/11 attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush bunched Iran, Iraq and North Korea together as the West's most dangerous foe, and called it an 'axis of evil.' Ten years later America is still at war, and the three points on the 'axis' are profoundly different. (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency, Korea News Service via AP Images)

(AP) - FILE - In this Tuesday, May 14, 2002 file photo, women hold pictures of President Mohammad Khatami during a public welcoming ceremony for him in the city of Sari 125 miles (250 kilometers) from Tehran during a three-day tour in northern province of Mazandaran. In the first State of the Union address after the 9/11 attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush bunched Iran, Iraq and North Korea together as the West's most dangerous foe, and called it an 'axis of evil.' Ten years later America is still at war, and the three points on the 'axis' are profoundly different. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

(AP) - FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2002 file photo, President George W. Bush gives his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington. Vice President Dick Cheney is at rear. In the first State of the Union address after the 9/11 attacks, Bush bunched Iran, Iraq and North Korea together as the West's most dangerous foe, and called it an 'axis of evil.' Ten years later America is still at war, and the three points on the 'axis' are profoundly different. (AP Photo/Doug Mills)

(AP) - FILE- In this June 1, 2011, file photo, GOP strategist Karl Rove arrives at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver , where he addressed Republicans at a fund raising luncheon. American Crossroads, the Republican 'super' political committee that plans to play a major role in this year's presidential campaign, raised more than $51 million along with its nonprofit arm last year, The Associated Press has learned. The figures from Crossroads, the group backed by former George W. Bush adviser Rove, were among the first financial reports being made public Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012, the deadline for super PACs and presidential candidates to file financial reports with federal election officials. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)